should I specialize or diversify?

[Kid Ice]

I have been considering trading off, or selling, everything else in my collection except for my Atari 2600 stuff, and then using that money to buy more 2600 stuff. What do you think of this idea?

Here is my reasoning:
1) With over 200 carts and many systems, controllers, and assorted stuff, the 2600 makes up the largest part of my collection already.

2) 2600 games seem to be the best to collect as an investment; they're still fairly affordable.

3) 2600 games still seem to be available "in the wild", making them easy to collect (although I actually see many more NES games). I hardly ever see games for later systems such as the Saturn or the 3DO.

4) The historical significance of Atari and the 2600.

5) I have so much odd junk for so many systems; I just want to get rid of a lot of it.

6) I can be more focused in my searching and spend less time on it (ie instead of trolling every ebay board, I can just stick to the Atari ones)

However, I could at this point go in the opposite direction and just collect EVERYTHING.

I have good reasons to do that too:

1) I have enough games and equipment to form the basis of a collection for several later systems: SNES, Genesis, Saturn, 3DO, etc.

2) My NES collection is nearly as large as my 2600 one, and probably more valuable because it contains more HTF items.

3) My "hidden collection" in the attic and in storage spaces contains whoknowswhat. I had a boxed 5200 that I haven't seen in a while.

4) It's easier to just go out and collect ANY games than it is to look for games for a particular system.

So I want to either narrow or broaden my current collecting habits.

(Which I'll define as I ALWAYS look for 2600 and NES games, SOMETIMES look for Saturn, SNES, Genesis, and 3DO, and NEVER look for Colecovision, Intellivision, or SMS)

the kid

Now that I actually have typed out my reasons, I'm leaning toward only collecting for Atari.

[Sylentwulf]

Go for all of it. Specialize in atari or something. But the second you decide you're not going to collect for system X, you'll find a TON of stuff for it and kick yourself in the ass over it later.

[Sniderman]

Let's see if I can be of some service here:

I have been considering trading off, or selling, everything else in my collection except for my Atari 2600 stuff, and then using that money to buy more 2600 stuff. What do you think of this idea?

I've heard one too many folks lamenting their game sales to think this is a good idea. If, a few years from now, you decide that you WANT to begin collecting for System X again, will it kill you to know that you had a slew of mega-rarities that you now have to pay top dollar for? At one time I had Sega CD Snatcher (mint, in box) and Virtual Boy Jack Bros. (Ditto) Sold them to focus more on just a few systems. Now, I'd love to get those back, but I'd never be able to afford them now..

2) 2600 games seem to be the best to collect as an investment...

That's a Beanie Baby/Pokemon/Magic Card/Comic book mentality. If you're collecting just for the investment value, then you're collecting for the wrong reasons.

3) 2600 games still seem to be available "in the wild", making them easy to collect

Not really. Not any more. Everyone seems to have picked up on the 260o-as-collectible vibe (Thanks Roadshow...), so even Combats are being snatched up and tossed on eBay. Now, NES and Genesis games are still plentiful and easy to find. If you wanted to focus on easy-to-finds, start there.

5) I have so much odd junk for so many systems; I just want to get rid of a lot of it.

Lack of space or need of cash are two decent reasons. But just make sure you're not gonna rip your heart out later.

Only you can decide what you want to do. But make sure you're certain of your decision. You may just unload something that you'll NEVER see again.[/quote]

[Arrrhalomynn]

I think it's a good decision to start specializing, but when you sell your other stuff, keep the gems and really fun games.
You'll see that as soon as you sold them you'll want to play them.

[Kid Ice]

Thanks for the feedback!

I agree that selling or trading something I'll just want back years later is a legitimate concern. I can remember:
1) Selling my Vectrex for $30 so I could buy an expansion cart for my Vic 20 (1984)

2) Giving away my RCA Studio 2 with 5 or 6 carts (1988)

3) Abandoning a Sega Master System and about 20 games in an apartment (1994)

4) Giving away an NES and 10 games (1995)

However, IMO, emulation has changed things a lot. It's no longer an issue of "If I sell this, I'll never play this game again."

As for the investment thing, Sniderman, I'm just being practical. Nobody collects Atari games purely for investment purposes (unless they're stupid); there are better things to invest in. I don't think I need to defend my reasons for collecting.

I feel that Atari games stand a better chance of retaining their (low) value in the future (than something like, sayyy, Saturn games, which cost a fortune now and may not be worth squat in 5 years), or maybe becoming more valuable. Who knows if I'm going to want to collect these things my whole life; I'm just leaving myself a way out.

the kid

Like I said, NES games are more common here "in the wilds of South Jersey" than 2600 games, but 2600 games are still fairly common.

[Captain Wrong]

The big question is, what means the most to you in your collection? There's stuff I could never let go of because I got too much sentimental value in it. However, there's other things I doubt I'd miss too much because I tried to collect everything for a while and just didn't "bond" with it.

I've tried to do the everything approach and really after awhile I found myself doing far more collecting than playing, and that's not why I got in it. I don't have the space or the money for that, nor do I have the desire much anymore.

I'd say this, group your collection into thirds. First third is the stuff you know you want to hang on to, second is stuff you think you might want but aren't sure, and third the stuff you could get rid of and know you won't miss. Take a look at what is in the piles (and it's ok if it's all in one pile still, that should tell you something!) and the answer to what you should hang on to or get rid of should be clearer.

One last thing, collection for future return on investement is dicey at best. Really, I'd say the salad days for 2600 stuff are over (unless your grandma turns up an Air Raid for you harrumph! ) and most of the valueable stuff is going for "collector's prices". If you want investements, collect coins or stamps. Collect the games you're interested in and will actually enjoy.

[Tritoch]

Basically, I would sell off everything you're sure you'll never want to play again, and then keep everything else just in case (in storage or whatever). Even if there's a .001% chance you'll ever play it again, keep it. That way you still aren't focusing on other systems, allowing you to devote all your resources to the Atari 2600. Over time you'll be able to further whittle down your non-2600 stuff, as you'll slowly realize you'll no longer play "Game X" either (due to time constraints, a better alternative, etc.). If you eventually decide to collect for another system, then all you have to do is whip 'em out of storage and you've got a good base collection.

That's the way I've approached it for years, and I've only ended up buying one game back that I regretted letting go (traded in WipEout when I was trying to scrape for a Dreamcast on launch day - a couple weeks ago I bought it brand new off of ebay for about $10).

[ianoid]

2600 is one of the worst systems to collect.

Reasons:
1)You'll never complete your collection.
2)If you try, it will cost you thousands for the last 10 carts.
3)Infinite prototypes.
4)To foreign or not to foreign?

If you want fun cheap games, it's probably the best system to pick up. The most popular games are often the most fun and the least expensive. Only a few great games will cost you.

To me, some nice collections to work on as a collector are:
Vectrex
Intellivision
Colecovision (quite challenging)
5200
7800

7800 is very high yield (good arcade adaptations) and 5200 is completable, aside from Bounty Bob, and has tons of nice titles.

So, the question is, are you a player or a collector?

If you put all your eggs in the 2600 basket, you'll bump the ceiling in a couple years of active collecting. And at that point, you'll have everything worth playing, too. And if you collect for collecting's sake, you will probably have to start collecting something else.

[Kid Ice]

I'll think about my reasons for focusing on the 2600 a little more. For me, it's fun to collect for because it was the system I had in my game-playing "prime", when I was a kid. I would never have dreamed I'd ever have 200 some Atari carts! So I guess you could call it sentimental value; I'm not a young kid who just started collecting because it seemed like a cool thing to do, or because I wanted to learn about the older games. My 2600 games mean more to me than their gameplay value (I have a better experience playing them on my PC, actually). Besides, I'm starting to draw the line between collecting and gaming more and more.

I'll put it this way; I'm thirty something years old. If a friend of mine comes over, he sees my collection and says "Holy *****, River Raid!"

Whereas, if I'm a younger collector, my friend comes over and says "What's this old crap doing here?"

the kid

Again, the monetary investment thing is a FACTOR. It is not my purpose for collecting. I'm not sitting around figuring out how much I'll sell this stuff for in 10 or 20 years. HOWEVER, I'm not going to spend money on something that's going to be worthless in 10 or 20 years.

[CrazyImpmon]

I'm a diversify kind. Anything goes although I concentrate on certain system from time to time, depending on what's easy to find for the moment. My main area of interest is the mid 80's consoles like Sega Master System and the 7800.

If anything leaves my possesion, it'd either have to be duplicates, or over my dead body. :lol:

If space were really an issue, I'd start with something that I have no interest in and didn't grow up with it (Odyssey 2 would be an example in my case)

[Sothy]

I prefer to specialize at the moment "mostly Genesis"

but its always good to check the other piles cuz even if you dont collect for something you can pick that stuff up and use as trade bait.

I dont really collect 2600 stuff much but if I saw a 3 dollar glib id snatch it up in a second.

[congobongo]

Right now I'd say I collect consoles. I like having nearly all of them up and running at the same time. Am I interested in completing a collection for all of them? No, I'd just like to have a nice selection from each because they all have their gems. Right now I'm only interesed in collecting games for a few systems but I would never sell off my other systems.

[wberdan]

ive been pondering this seriously for about 6 months now...
i think what will eventually happen with me is dumping the cd based games completely (except for ones i'll play) and just going all out for cartridges. i had intended to sell/trade it all and collect only colecovision and vectrex... im still trying to figure it out.. its a hard decision that takes a lot of time. i have a tough time getting rid of stuff, so yeah- ill prob rnd up not selliong anything.
i like the idea of specializing though.... but once those systems are done, you gotta move on!
...unless you really like collecting label, box, and instruction manual variations (and foreign of course) .... then its never ending.


willie

[Raedon]

I find myself in more of a wheel n deal mode when collecting locally. I know what a good price is for bulk games on any system and I buy them up if there is a deal to be made. but when I go online I only buy for two systems.. NES and SMS

the reasons are pretty simple. I could care less if i complete my pre-nes systems.. I have 90 2600 games and they are all my favorates.. same with the others, I don't actively bid or buy rares for these systems. and as for the 16 bit+ systems there are more then enough games to go around right now, used retailers are still full of them. Places like EB and babbages can't get rid of them for their made up prices and no one buys them in other places like flee markets or pawn shops (except me at 8am, after that they can fight over the leftovers.)

[omnedon]

I find myself in more of a wheel n deal mode when collecting locally. I know what a good price is for bulk games on any system and I buy them up if there is a deal to be made. but when I go online I only buy for two systems.

I'm a newb collector, but I agree with that. If it's console, I collect it. Sentimental for me, are the 2600, Inty, ColecoVision and SMS. All the others is simply to 'have them' and to try their best and not so great games. For me to 'PAY' Ebay premium, plus shipping, it's going to have to be something special. Otherwise I source locally now, now that I know where and how to look. Some of the stuff I paid a prem for on E-bay when I started, I have had go through my hands as dupes cheap now, multiple times! I know better now. As my collection grows, I'm sure buying on Ebay will become a more urgent need, but for now I can easily increase my collection weekly, with cheap local sources.

[leonk]

I remember back in the late 80's, when I was in my early teens (~12) my Mom baught my cousin a bunch of NES games.. I remember falling asleep thinking that my parents hated me (and crying about it).

It was only later that I found out that my Mom owed her sister some $$$ and that's how she paid her back.

But guess what.. 2 months later I had my own NES, and a 14" TV that my brother and I got for our birthday!!! And best of all, it was in my room! How cool was that?

2nd NES memory: My Mom taking my and my brother to toys R us and buying Super Mario Bros 3 on launch day!

It's these memories that make me collect for NES.. It's these memories that made me work with my dad for a week building the special shelf to hold my collection..

to top it off, it's cool when my friends walk into my room and go "holly shit!" when they see the wall of NES games (~420 and growing fast!) and then try to name as many NES games they owned and have me pull it out, pop it into my system, and have them play it!

Almost can see tears in their eyes behing those huge grins as the childhood comes out of them..

LK

[Kid Ice]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I guess my collection style as it is now is most like Congo Bongo's; I try to have all my systems up and running so I have quick access to whatever game I happen to feel like playing. It's getting to be more trouble than it's worth though, especially now that I have a PC dedicated to emulating.

I like wberdan's cart-only idea; I don't see myself ever finishing off a collection, though. My best chance for that is probably the 7800, of all things.

the kid